[Ord. 10/15/1951; as amended by Ord. 1984-1, 2/23/1984; and
by Ord. No. 2022-3, 3/21/2022]
A Borough Planning Commission, to be composed of seven members,
appointed as provided by law (53 P.S. § 10202), is hereby created
in and for the Borough of Doylestown. The Planning Commission shall
perform all duties and may exercise all powers conferred by law upon
Borough planning agencies, provided that the Planning Commission previously
created in and for the said Borough of Doylestown shall constitute
the tenure of any of the members thereof, but any and all vacancies
in the said Commission, hereafter occurring, shall be filled in the
manner and for the term provided in the law governing Borough planning
commissions in effect at the time of the happening of the said vacancy.
Further, to facilitate the expansion of the Planning Commission from
a five-member commission to a seven-member commission, and as provided
by law, including Section 203(b) of the Municipalities Planning Code,[1] the initial appointment of two new members may include
one member appointed for a term of less than four years, such that
in future calendar years, no more than two members shall be reappointed
or replaced.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10203(b).
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 3]
The members of said Commission shall make and alter rules and
regulations for their own organization and procedure, consistent with
the ordinances of this Borough and the laws of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. They shall serve without compensation and shall make
annually to the Borough Council a report of their transactions. They
may employ engineers and other persons, whose salaries and wages and
other necessary expenses of the Commission, where approved by the
Borough Council, shall be provided for through proper appropriation
of the Borough Council. They may contract for professional planning
services, the costs and the expenses of which, when approved by the
Borough Council, shall be provided through proper appropriation by
the Borough Council.
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 4]
The Secretary of the Borough Council shall, upon introduction,
furnish to the said Commission for its consideration a copy of all
proposed ordinances of the Borough Council and all amendments thereto,
relating to the location of any public building of the Borough and
to the location, extension, widening, narrowing, enlargement, ornamentation
and parking of any street, boulevard, parkway, park, playground or
other public ground, and to the relocation, vacation, curtailment,
changes of use, or any other alteration of the Borough Plan with relation
to any of the same, and to the location of any bridge, tunnel and
subway or any surface, underground or elevated railway. The said Commission
shall have the power to disapprove any of said ordinances or amendments,
which disapproval, however, shall be communicated to the Borough Council
in writing within 10 days from the introduction of said ordinances
or amendments, but such disapproval shall not operate as a veto.
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 5]
The said Commission may make or cause to be made, and lay before
the Borough Council, and, at its discretion, cause to be published
maps of the Borough or any portions thereof, including territory extending
beyond the Borough limits for such distance as may be permitted by
law, showing the streets and highways and other natural and artificial
features, and also locations proposed by it for any new public building,
civic center, street, parkway, park, playground or any other public
ground or public improvement, or any widening, extension or relocation
of the same, or any change in the Borough Plan by it deemed advisable;
and said Commission may make recommendations to the Borough Council,
from time to time, concerning any such matters and things aforesaid,
for action by the Borough Council thereon, and, in so doing have regard
for the present conditions and future needs and growth of the Borough,
and the distribution and relative location of all the principal and
other streets and railways, waterways and all other means of public
travel and public communications, as well as the distribution and
relative location of all public buildings, public ground and open
spaces devoted to public use.
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 6]
The said Commission may also make recommendations to any public
authorities or any corporations or individuals in said Borough or
such distance beyond the limits of said Borough as may be authorized
by law, with reference to the location of any buildings, structures,
or works to be erected or constructed by them.
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 7]
All plans, plots, or replots of land, laid out in building lots,
and the streets or other portion of the same intended to be dedicated
to public use or for the use of the purchasers or owners of lots fronting
thereon or adjacent thereto, located within the Borough limits, shall
be submitted to said Commission and approved by it before they shall
be recorded. It shall be unlawful to receive or record such plan in
any public office unless the same shall bear thereon, by endorsement
or otherwise, the approval of said Commission. The disapproval of
any such plan by said Commission shall be deemed a refusal of the
proposed dedication shown thereon. The approval of the Commission
shall be deemed an acceptance of the proposed dedication but shall
not impose any duty or liability upon the Borough of Doylestown, concerning
or arising from, or by reason of, the maintenance or improvement of
any such dedicated parts, until the proper authorities of the said
Borough shall have made actual appropriation of the same by entry,
use or improvement. No sewer, water or gas main or pipes or other
improvements, shall be voted or made, within the area under the jurisdiction
of said Commission as may be provided by law, from time to time, for
the use of any such purchasers or owners, nor shall any permit for
connection with, or any other use of, any such improvement existing
or for any other reason made, be given to any such purchasers or owners,
until such plan is so approved.
[Ord. 10/15/1951, § 8; as amended by Ord. 1959-17,
5/25/1959, § 1]
To the extent that it is authorized so to do by law, as now
existing or as may hereafter be enacted, said Commission shall also
have authority, subject to the final approval and ratification of
the Borough Council of the Borough of Doylestown to cooperate with
one or more adjoining political subdivisions in the exercise and performance
of the powers, functions and duties of said Commission and of carrying
into effect provisions of the law now or hereafter enacted relating
to subjects which are common to all such political subdivisions and
which each may, under laws now or hereafter enacted, separately exercise
and perform. For the purpose of carrying the provisions of this section
into effect, the said Commission shall negotiate for such joint agreement
or agreements with such one or more adjoining political subdivisions
as it may deem appropriate for such purposes, and such agreement or
agreements shall be submitted to the Borough Council of the Borough
of Doylestown for final ratification and approval by ordinance, subject
to law.
